Smith River school gym behind schedule

Local education officials had hoped Smith River School’s new gym would be finished by the end of June, but now they are just hoping the facility’s maple floor will be installed by the time school starts.

Smith River School held its eighth-grade graduation in its new gym last month, but due to the moisture content in its concrete foundation, workers couldn’t lay the new floor at the time, principal Paige Swan said then.

Workers are still struggling with the moisture content in the concrete base that the maple floor will sit on, Superintendent Don Olson told School Board members Thursday.

The Board unanimously approved a list of requests from the Smith River Gym Committee to recognize those who donated funds to get the gym built.

The committee also asked permission to install a plaque honoring former deputy superintendent Rodney Jahn for his work to get the gym built. Jahn, who was on the verge of retirement, died of natural causes last month. The committee also wants to display a historical picture of Smith River Elementary School, according to the district staff.

In other matters, the Board is seeking public input on a writing, reading and phonics program. The district has been using the Systematic Instruction in Phonological Awareness, Phonics and Sight Words program, or SIPPS, to help struggling readers for years, Olson said. But as the district begins to implement California’s new Common Core State Standards, which focus on more writing in all subjects, it must make the curriculum it intends to use available for public review, he said.

Olson said the district will receive an additional $600,000 from the state to implement the Common Core State Standards. When it adopts the new material, the district will have to demonstrate that the curricula meets the new state standards, he said.

The district is expected to adopt SIPPS, the Making Meaning reading comprehension program and the Being a Writer program at its Aug. 8 meeting. The materials will be available at the district office, 301 W. Washington Blvd., for public review.

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